1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to packaging and more particularly to an assembly wherein a product core is wrapped in stretched film. In addition, the assembly is of such construction that a portion of the assembly is without plastic film coverage to allow product identification indicia to be placed on the assembly and later read by humans or machines.
2. Description of Related Art
The use of stretch wrapping for assembling shipping packages is wellknown in the art. Whether the package is completely enclosed by a stretched film or has a selected pattern of film around portions of the package, there have been many different attempts to wrap a package for shipment. It is also well-known to form a stretch-wrap film into rope sections and either rope the entire sheet of film or only a portion of the sheet.
For example, a patent to Lancaster, U.S. Pat. No. 5,031,771, discloses a roped stretch-wrapping system. A web of film is roped at both the top and bottom and is wrapped about a plurality of stacked units in order to hold the stack together during shipping. The film is roped and wrapped about the stack of units such that the roped sections hold adjoining units together but is wrapped in such a manner that the film does not cover the entire load. Rather, the film is wrapped in Z-shaped patterns thereby allowing the load to breathe by permitting airflow through the wrapped units. Lancaster does not teach forming a binding sleeve to enclose the product core in stretch-wrap film; but is instead focused on allowing the bound units to be exposed to the air.
Another patent issued to Casteel, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,427, discloses a stretch-wrap roping apparatus. Casteel, et al. disclose completely wrapping a package in stretch-wrap then forming a rope of the entire web of film in order to encircle top and bottom portions of the package with the rope to more securely hold the package together.
It would be desirable to provide a wrapped package wherein a continuous binding sleeve is formed about the package but that still provides an uncovered portion for allowing labels and other indicia to be placed on the package and be easily read.
With the increased use of computers and optical character readers for inventory control in industry, especially in shipping, it is necessary for each package to have a label applied containing some type of readable code that allows an optical character reader or the like to identify the package and the location from where it came or to where it is going. The stretch-wrap enclosing these packages can significantly affect or prevent an optical character reader or, even a human from reading any labels attached to the package underneath the film. This may prevent a shipper or business from maintaining tight inventory control on a product being sent out once it is wrapped. Therefore, it would be highly desirable to provide a stretch-wrap packaged assembly that provides for a space on the package where an identifying label can be placed such that the stretch-wrap does not interfere or in any way cover up the label. It would also be desirable to provide a package assembly that totally encloses a product to be shipped and thereby protects the product from damage during shipment but still allows for the identifying label to be placed on the package so that the stretch-wrap does not cover the label.